Recently
my digital copy of Paul Simon's album “Graceland” purchased from
iTunes became corrupted, so I was online downloading replacement
files, and listening to them at the same time. And I was struck by
just how much spiritual content he had packed into his lyrics. And
Paul Simon is a fairly secular Jew, not a Christian. The title song
“Graceland” on the surface seems to be about taking his son on a
road trip to see Elvis' mansion in Memphis. But buried within is a
remarkable look at the brokenness of human beings – all of us:
And my traveling companions
Are ghosts and empty sockets
She comes back to tell me she's gone
As if I didn't know that
As if I didn't know my own bed
As if I'd never noticed
The way she brushed her hair from her forehead
And she said losing love
Is like a window in your heart
Everybody sees you're blown apart
Everybody sees the wind blow
...and
also that, somewhere on our journey there is a destination for us
all, and redemption is there:
But
I've reason to believe
We
all will be received
In
Graceland
Another
Paul Simon lyric (not on Graceland) that has always moved me is from
the song “America”:
“Kathy,
I'm lost” I said,
though
I knew she was sleeping
“I'm
empty and aching
and
I don't know why.”
Confession
is a little easier if you know there won't be judgement on the other
side, isn't it? I guess that's why the Catholic priests have that
little screen between them and the confessor.
Here's
another one: “Say Something” by A Great Big World. Where
“Graceland” was spurred by the aftermath of a marriage that had
fallen apart, “Say Something” is the pain of love being offered
but not accepted. While the song is quite obviously about romantic
love, parts of it made me think of how God must feel when his offer
of love is rejected. In Romans 1, Paul writes of how God, in the face
of people who willfully reject him, “gives them over” to the
sinful states that they so eagerly pursue. Paul speaks of this as
being God's wrath against the godlessness and wickedness. But I am
convinced that, while God is justifiably angry at people's rebellion,
he is also deeply saddened – enough to make the hugest sacrifice
that we could ever comprehend in order to save some.
Say
something, I'm giving up on you
I'll
be the one, if you want me to
Anywhere,
I would've followed you
Say
something, I'm giving up on you
Say
something
Lastly,
Paul McCartney, accused of writing vacuous, lightweight songs, might
well point to “Eleanor Rigby” in his defense.
Eleanor
Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been
Lives
in a dream
Waits
at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door
Who
is it for?
If
you actually read the words to this song and are not moved by
McCartney's perceptive look at the forgotten and unnoticed people in
the world, well maybe you have no soul. I'm just sayin'.
So
why is this in a blog about worship music? Well, real worship doesn't
only happen when you're in a church service. It also happens when you
hear a song on the radio as you're driving to work and are moved to
think about God and just maybe have some appreciation for what he's
done for you through Jesus.
